Stop Playing Small: My Incomplete Thoughts on the State of Things

Another shooting. The murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on Thursday sent shockwaves through the country. Love and prayers for his wife and two small children.

But this wasn’t the only tragedy in recent weeks. In just ninety days, we’ve seen:

• Politicians Melissa Hortman (Minnesota) and her husband Mark Hortman were fatally shot in their home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on June 14, 2025.

• On the same day, Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, were also shot in their home in Champlin, Minnesota. They survived.

• Evergreen High School, Colorado, on the same day as Kirk, a student gunman shot two students, then turned the gun on himself. He later died. One of the injured students is Matthew Silverstone, 18.

• Annunciation Catholic Church & School, Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 27, 2025). Two children killed: Harper Moyski (10 years old) and Fletcher Merkel (8 years old). Over 20 people were injured by an armed gunmen.

• Iryna Zarutska, 23, a Ukrainian refugee. On August 22, 2025, on the light rail in North Carolina, was fatally stabbed.

• Officer David Rose, age 33, of DeKalb County Police (Georgia), was killed on August 8, 2025. Answered a call for a man attacking the CDC based on Covid conspiracies.

In the last 90 days, this happened. More than I can list. Every one of these victims was an image-bearer of God. Every family is grieving.

So I ask the question:

Is this who we want to be?

I’m not asking this as a fan or critic of Charlie Kirk. To be honest, I barely knew his name before the news broke. I’m not asking as a political commentator, gun law activist, or mental health expert.

I’m asking as a human. A concerned human who cares about the plight of my fellow neighbors. A person who lives in the experiment we call America.

Regardless of your opinions around Charlie Kirk, public servants being slain in their homes, or children being slaughtered at school…

We are a divided and angry and violent nation.

And this isn’t about politics. It’s about the condition of our souls.

The Root Problem

When a plant dies, you don’t blame the leaves. You dig up the roots. The roots are the lifeline. If they’re diseased or deprived, the whole plant withers.

I see a disease in our country whereby we are trying to fix the surface and symptom issues while not digging out the cancer.

We spend endless energy debating symptoms—guns, mental health, political rhetoric—while ignoring the soil that produces the violence.

As a Christian, I believe sin is at the root of every human heart. No one comes into the world ready to love God and neighbor. We resist authority. We rebel. Our souls are hard-wired for self over service.

When brokenness combines with isolation, abuse, addiction, and hateful rhetoric, it becomes a time bomb. Not every sinner picks up a gun, but every unchecked root of anger is capable of violence.

Jesus knew this. He said that anger is the seed of murder. Lust is the seed of adultery. The root matters.

A Personal Moment of Choosing

During COVID, I felt this tension up close. Many people in my church—and loud voices online—wanted me to choose a political side, to speak for or against certain policies, to rage about the latest headline.

I wanted to do it. Choosing a side would have been the easy road. It would have made some people happy, maybe even grown the church in the short term.

But deep down I knew this was not what Jesus is about. This is not what I want my life to be about. Politics and rage are too small. We live for something bigger and more life-giving.

When I refused to take the bait, some people left the church. It hurt. But I knew that if I gave in, I’d be living a smaller story than the one Jesus invites us into.

And I’d known from personal experience that if you allow smaller stories and disease-ridden idols into your life. You become what you worship.

If you worship flawed humans, you become what they represent. If you bow the knee to political ideologies, you become them.

I had to protect the roots of my soul.

The Deadly Cocktail

Consider what we know about the killers in these recent attacks: young men, isolated, radicalized online, stewing in anger. Add to that broken family structures, unchallenged political extremism, untreated mental health struggles, access to guns, and endless hours of digital echo chambers.

That is the recipe for rage. Take a soul rotting from the inside out and add the above ingredients, and something will break inside. The anger must find an outlet. And sadly, often the outlets are innocent bystanders having nothing to do with the person.

And yet, instead of choosing the abundant life of Jesus. A life of love toward God, neighbors, and self we keep playing small.

Small Lives in a Big World

Politics is small.

Hate is small.

Scrolling social media for hours is small.

Living in isolation is small.

Fame is small.

We were made for more. And deep down we know it.

Jesus said He came to give life—life to the full. A big life. An abundant life. Yet so often we settle for a shadow existence, playing it safe, picking sides, yelling at strangers online, and numbing ourselves with distraction.

I write, speak, teach, lead, and coach because I’m tired of watching people live insignificant lives. Small lives produce small vision, small love, and small courage.

And when fear, hate, and anger fill the void, they produce big destruction.

I think about these young men and wonder aloud, “if they only knew there was something better to live for. If they only knew about the joys of walking in community with others. You don’t have to go it alone. Life is too hard. If they only knew about Big Eternal Love. If they only knew it’s better to give than receive.”

Choosing BIG

What if we chose something different?

What if we chose:

• Love over hate.

• Joy over despair.

• Peace over outrage.

• Generosity over selfishness.

• Courage over fear.

This isn’t naive optimism—it’s the way of Jesus. The way of abundant life. The way that heals communities and restores nations, one person at a time.

We still need better laws, better schools, better mental health support, and leaders who are accountable. But none of that will matter if the roots stay rotten.

The Invitation

Our lives are too short to waste on outrage and division. The world doesn’t need more angry tweets or talking heads. The world needs people who refuse to play small, who choose to cultivate the soil of their own souls and bring life wherever they go.

I’m praying for something different—for me, for you, for our country. I’m praying for a generation of people who choose the big life Jesus offers.

Is this who we want to be?

I know my answer.

How about you?

-Ryan